Elizabeth Smither
Elizabeth Edwina Smither MNZM (born 15 September 1941) is a New Zealand poet, novelist, and short story writer. Life Smither was born in New Plymouth, North Island, where she works as a librarian.Smither, Elizabeth, New Zealand Book Council. Web, Mar. 2, 2014. Writing Landfall: "Elizabeth Bishop knew that her type of poem was hard to do well, and she published sparingly. Elizabeth Smither, by comparison, publishes prolifically. In each book there are some very good poems, the kind that you rediscover later with delight. But many of the poems in The Lark Quartet, as much as we can see where they want to go, don’t quite make it. I wished they had been left longer and worked harder so that their quickness and lightness at the level of ideas could ripen into something more lasting in language."Andrew Johnston, Michele Leggott and Elizabeth Smither (review of The Lark Quartet), Landfall 199, March 2000. AndrewJohnston.org, Web, Mar. 2, 2014. Jacket: "Smither writes concise, intelligent poems that sometimes exhort, sometimes muse, sometimes simply watch. Smither generally does not rhyme, though ‘Rhyme, Unrhyme’ playfully comments on this by rhyming in stilted couplets and ending by saying, of a causal conversation among working-class New Zealanders on a train, ‘if it rhymes it takes away all their hopes’." Galatea Resurrects: "Elizabeth Smither’s poetry book Horse Playing the Accordion is a lively exploration into the ordinary instances of life. Smither alternates between revealing life’s most sublime and solemn (in the case of her funeral poems) instances. We can only marvel as Smither gathers an array of moments, placing them before us to feast on." The Listener: "Oblique, amused, always probingly intelligent, Smither’s muse is too wry, too self-aware, to demand disciples or to found a 'school'. Reading her poetry leaves us the opposite of spellbound." Recognition *2000 - Montana New Zealand Book Award for Poetry *2002 - Te Mata New Zealand Poet Laureate *2004 - Finalist for Montana New Zealand Book Award *2008 - Prime Minister's Award for Literary Achievement]] in poetry. Publications Poetry *''Here Come the Clouds: Poems''. Martinborough, NZ: A. Taylor, 1975. *''You’re Very Seductive, William Carlos Williams''. Dunedin, NZ: J. McIndoe, 1978. *''Little Poems''. New Plymouth, NZ: Thomas J. Mutch, 1979. *''The Sarah Train''. Eastbourne, NZ: Hawk Press, 1980. *''The Legend of Marcello Mastroianni’s wife''. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1981. *''Casanova’s Ankle'' (illustrated by Jurgen Waibel). Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1981. *''Shakespeare Virgins''. Auckland: Auckland University Press / Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1983. *''Professor Musgrove’s Canary''. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1986. *''Gorilla/ Guerilla''. Auckland: Earl of Seacliff Art Workshop, 1986. *''Animaux''. Wellington: Modern House, 1988. *''A Pattern of Marching''. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1989. *''A Cortège of Daughters''. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cloud, 1993. *''The Tudor Style: Poems new and selected''. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1993. *''The Lark Quartet''. Auckland & Chicago: Auckland University Press, 1999. *''Red Shoes''. Auckland: Godwit, 2003. *''A Question of Gravity: Selected poems''. Todmorden, UK: Arc Publications, 2004. *''The Year of Adverbs''. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2007. *''Horse Playing the Accordion: Poems''. Burlington, ON: Ahadada Books, 2009. *''The Blue Coat''. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2013. *''Ruby Duby Du'' (illustrated by Kathryn Madill). Lyttelton, NZ: Cold Hub Press, 2014. Novels *''First Blood: A novel''. Auckland: Hodder & Stoughton, 1983. *''Brother-love Sister-love''. Auckland: Hodder & Stoughton, 1986. *''The Sea Between Us''. Auckland & New York: Penguin, 2003. *''Different Kinds of Pleasure''. Auckland: Penguin, 2006. *''Lola''. Auckland: Penguin, 2010. Short fiction *''Nights at the Embassy: Stories''. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1990. *''Mr Fish, and other stories''. Dunedin, NZ: J. McIndoe, 1994. *''The Mathematics of Jane Austen, and other stories''. Auckland: Godwit, 1997. *''Listening to the Everly Brothers, and other stories''. Auckland & New York: Penguin, 2002. *''The Girl Who Proposed: New short stories''. Auckland: Cape Catley, 2008. Non-fiction *''The Commonplace Book: A writer's journey through quotations''. Auckland: Auckland University Press, 2011. Juvenile *''Tug Brothers''. Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1983. Edited *''The Seventies Connection'' (edited with David Hill). Dunedin, NZ: J. McIndoe, 1980. Journals *''The Journal Box''. Auckland & Chicago: Auckland University Press, 1996. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Elizabeth Smither, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Mar. 2, 2014. See also *List of New Zealand poets References External links ;Poems *"The Sea Question" *"Two security guards talking about Jupiter", Snorkel 5 *Elizabeth Smither: Two poems ("Japanese Bride in the Botanical Garden," "Miniature Ferns") *Two poems ("The self, for Antigone Kefala"; "Plaits"), foam:e 5 *Elizabeth Smither: Two poems at Jacket *Elizabeth Smither: Three Poems ("Three Women Sharing a Bowl of Creme Brulee," "Hearing the Approach of Rain," "A Woman on a Bus Reading a Poem") *"Elizabeth Smither" at the New Zealand Electronic Poetry Center (poems & stories) ;Audio / video *Elizabeth Smither: Four poems read by the author at Inertia ("Last sister"; "A cortege of daughters"; "An error on a quiz programme"; "Plaits") *Elizabeth Smither (b. 1941) at The Poetry Archive *Elizabeth Smither at YouTube ;Books *Elizabeth Smither at Amazon.com *Elizabeth Smither at the New Zealand Literature File ;About *Smither, Elizabeth at the New Zealand Book Council *"Q&A with author Elizabeth Smither," Sunday Star-Times Category:1941 births Category:Living people Category:Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit Category:New Zealand women poets Category:New Zealand Poets Laureate Category:20th-century poets Category:20th-century women writers Category:21st-century poets Category:21st-century women writers Category:English-language poets Category:New Zealand poets Category:New Zealand women writers Category:Poets Category:Women poets Category:New Zealand novelists Category:New Zealand short story writers